What’s up, Otaku Bettors!
European-style used to be the standard for roulette, right?
But apparently American-style is becoming more dominant lately.
And with that American Roulette trend — recently, machines have been popping up that add “000” on top of the existing “0” and “00”, and it just keeps taking players down.
The name of this roulette variant, by the way, is “Triple Zero Roulette.” Says it all, really.
It’s apparently been around for a while, but it’s been spreading every day — and it’s gotten mainstream enough that even I’m hearing about it in my video roulette corner of the world.
What Makes Triple Zero Different
Triple Zero Roulette adds “000” to the traditional “0” and “00” — and since its first trial run at the Venetian Hotel in 2016, sightings at major Las Vegas casinos followed one after another, and before anyone knew it, it had made its way into the roulette mainstream.
It goes by a few different names — sometimes called Mexican Roulette, sometimes Triple Zero Roulette — but players tend to just call it the “ripoff table.”
My personal prediction: the Osaka IR casino will probably go with Triple Zero too.
Where 000 Sits on the Wheel
On the wheel, 000 sits between 0 and 00.
The number arrangement follows the European wheel, with three zeros built into the position where the single 0 sits on a European Roulette wheel — laid out as 0 · 000 · 00.
The 000 pocket is sometimes labeled “000” and sometimes replaced by the casino’s logo.
On the table layout, 000 is usually above 0 and 00 — though at some casinos, 00 and 000 sit side by side with 0 on top.
Green Added to the Color Bets
Normally, outside color bets only offer red and black — but in Triple Zero, green (11 to 1) is added between red and black.
Green Payout
If you bet on green and the ball lands on 0, 00, or 000, you receive 12× your bet.
| Payout | 12× |
| Hit Rate | approx. 7.69% |
High House Edge
Why casinos added 000 is pretty obvious — to squeeze more out of players.
In other words, it’s just a trick to inflate the house edge and pad the casino’s cut.
| Type | Zeros | Pockets | House Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| European | 0 | 37 | approx. 2.70% |
| American | 0 · 00 | 38 | approx. 5.26% |
| Triple Zero | 0 · 00 · 000 | 39 | approx. 7.69% |
The fact that fewer players are specializing in roulette lately is probably Triple Zero’s fault.
I know people who were already furious about Double Zero — “I won’t touch it — the payouts are terrible!” — so this downgrade of adding yet another zero was probably a net negative for roulette as a whole…
Roulette was always kind of a game designed to rope in beginners, you know? Serious gamblers tend to migrate toward baccarat or blackjack — and beginners don’t feel comfortable sitting down at tables where wild-eyed sharks are fighting tooth and nail, right?
So beginners naturally drift toward roulette tables that look simple and aren’t too packed…
And casinos know exactly that.
That said — if you cool down and just compare the Straight Up probabilities, there’s actually not that much difference between American and Triple Zero.
- European (1/37) → approx. 2.70%
- American (1/38) → approx. 2.63%
- Triple Zero (1/39) → approx. 2.56%
Oh, but — if you’re spinning 100, 1000 times, it does start to add up.
In the video roulette world where even American (Double Zero) doesn’t get much love, Triple Zero (000) probably won’t catch on — but if 000 ever makes it into the software, I’d personally want to give it a shot.
Yep. Triple Zero roulette is a dangerous table designed to bait players.